Angelo Mathews will be key for Sri Lanka in the World Cup next year, says Kumar Sangakkara

Sangakkara thinks Sri Lanka will do well in the next edition of the game's biggest event next year.

Former Sri Lankan Cricketer and one of the greats of the game, Kumar Sangakkara has come out and said that Angelo Mathews will be the key player for the island nation in their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign next year in England.

Mathews may be going through a rough phase in his cricketing career due to injuries and struggles with the bat, but his teammate in the past has a lot of faith in his ability and believes he will bounce back.

At his best, Mathews is not only the most feared batsman in the side but also provides great balance to Sri Lanka's unit via his bowling. Looking ahead to the marquee event which is less than a year away, Sangakkara was quoted telling ICC as, “It’ll also be the balance of the side, how Angelo Mathews goes about, whether he’s fit enough to bowl, because that’s the most crucial aspect of Angelo in the side; that balance he gives us being the all-rounder. I have a lot of confidence in the fact that Sri Lanka is another team who does well in big tournaments.”

"I think they’ll go well [at the World Cup],They have some excellent batsmen. I think bowling is where the concern is, whether we can restrict sides to manageable or chaseable totals, or restrict sides below totals that our batsmen can get.”

"Sanga" as he is fondly called, crushed all his lovers' hopes, when he said there is no chance of him making it back to the International arena.

He said, “You can’t reverse the clock! Age catches up with everyone and I’m pretty happy and comfortable watching it from the stands. There are times when I miss it and times when I see the hard yards done by the players that I don’t.”